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The Residency Towers Chennai, India

India_7

In July 2007 we traveled to Chennai (Madras) India and spent seven weeks at The Residency Towers in Chennai.  We chose to stay at The Residency Towers because we planned to be there four weeks and the price was reasonable for a suite.   Our trip was a combination of business and pleasure.    When we arrived in at the hotel we asked the check-in-clerk to have a room that was quiet, because we would be conducting business.  The clerk assured us the room would be very quiet.

We soon learned that the staff at The Regency Towers agree to everything, but  that does not really mean anything.   We got to the hotel very late, about 4AM in the morning, so it was very quiet.  We were showed to our room, a suite, and it was an adequate room, we headed to bed immediately.  3 hrs. later we were woken by the beeping of horns.

Our room was at the front of the hotel and the hotel was located on a very busy intersection, we soon found out that the noise of beeping horns goes on for about 20 hrs a day.  We asked to have our rooms moved, but were told that was impossible.

The suite contained three rooms: a master bedroom, a living room and a bathroom. The rooms showed a bit of wear and tear and could have used some renovating.  The bathroom had a nice shower, the problem was when you took a shower the water smelled like sewer water.

The water in the fridge had unsealed bottles of water we were assured the water was filtered and we would be okay.  This was clearly not the case, shortly after I arrived in India I became very very  ill and stopped drinking water and started drinking sodas exclusively.

The health club was adequate with good equipment and the roof top pool was good.   The staff was variable, some were good and some disinterested.  As mentioned above we soon learned everyone said YES, but that did not mean anything.  We would ask for our room to be cleaned and we would be told YES, and it would never happen.

We would asks for our clothes to be dry cleaned and I would send my silk dresses, rather than be dry cleaned they would washed them with other clothes in industrial washers and my clothes came back in rags.

The hotel was located in Pondi Bazaar a very busy market, my husband and I decided the next day to take a walk.  When we came to the front of the hotel the doorman warned us it was not a very good idea.  However, we decided to go for a walk anyway and soon found out it was  a bad decision.  As we walked in the market we were surrounded by Beggars.  The people Begging were very aggressive and it soon became quite scary and we made our way very quickly back to the hotel.  From that point on, we never left the premises of the hotel, without a local guide.

The restaurant is equipped with a buffet restaurant which features the local cuisine and the food was average, nothing special.

After our four week visit our trip was extended and we spoke to the management about getting a reduction in price since we had stayed for so long at the hotel.  The manager assured us they would, and quoted us a price which we agreed upon.

On the day we left the hotel, we were given our invoice and rather than have a reduction in price our price was increased.  Unfortunately, we were running to the airport and had no time to get it fixed.  The manager assured us he would fix it.  He never did.

Would we recommend this hotel NO, it is poor at best, and not worth the money.